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Under the Scope: Oilers vs. Stars

by
Kristi Hennessy
/ Edmonton Oilers

Down by one goal with just over a minute to play, Gagner had the puck down low and the Oilers were doing everything in their power to take this one to OT. Gagner fired two hard wrist shots on Turco but both were turned aside until the third and golden effort squeezed by him. With 1:02 left, Sam Gagner tied the game. Unfortunately for the Oilers, the Dallas Stars had the same thing in mind. With 23 seconds to play, James Neal decided the fate of this game and snapped the Stars 10-game road losing streak.

50

Brad Richards has reached 50 points in 41 games. (12g, 38a)

800

Mike Modano is only four assists from 800 NHL assists.

1000

Brendan Morrow is 2 penalty minutes away from 1000 PIM.

10

Dallas Stars had lost their last 10 road games going into tonight.

290

Oilers now have a League-leading 290 man games lost to injury after tonight.

It all started with a Penner take-away with 26 seconds to play in the second period. Penner got the puck over to Sam Gagner who was looming around Turco's right side. Waiting and ready Gags made no mistake but to bank one past Marty bringing the Oilers back within one. With just 18 seconds to play, Gagner gave his team some energy and showed the electric crowd that they wanted this win more than ever.

If we were to choose a 4th star of the game, it should go to Ryan Potulny. He gave the Oilers their first spark tonight with a nice second-effort goal at 13:12 of the first period on the power play. Potulny also picked up an assist on Sam Gagner's late goal in the third period to tie the game with 18 seconds to play. He finished the game with two points, four shots and went 50% in the face-off circle.

Since moving to Texas in 1993, the Stars have a 44-11-7 (.766) record against the Edmonton Oilers, their third-best points percentage against any NHL opponent. (ATL .875, CBJ .771) Despite their recent success, the Stars had not won in Rexall Place since Feb.1, 2008 before tonight.

"I knew that when we scored that goal late, we were going to win that hockey game. I knew it in my heart. Unfortunately it didn't grab my heart it grabbed my guts." - Oilers Head Coach, Pat Quinn when asked by the media how he felt about the late loss.

"If we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have luck at all. As of late, we're running out of feet to shoot ourselves in." -Oilers Dustin Penner comments on the loss.

Tuesday January 26 vs. Chicago7:30 PM MT (TSN (HD), 630 CHED)

Edmonton will host Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks next Tuesday January 26. The game starts at 7:30pm and will be broadcast on TSN, available in HD.